Bones, Dives and Doubts: teacher key

The Biggest Animals, grade 9 edition, written for 9th grade. Where the size numbers come from, from a fossil skull in Italy to a squid that is mostly arms.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What is the earliest known anatomically modern blue whale?
   • A full skeleton from Peru
   • A partial skull fossil from southern Italy (answer)
   • A tooth from Antarctica
2. Why does reported blue whale loudness vary?
   • Whales stop calling
   • Nobody has heard them
   • Sources give different frequencies and decibel figures (answer)
3. What do the heavy bones of Perucetus suggest?
   • Slow swimming in shallow coastal water (answer)
   • Fast swimming in the deep sea
   • A life on land
4. Why is the giant squid lighter than its length suggests?
   • It has no body
   • It is hollow
   • Much of its length is arms and tentacles (answer)
5. Which spider has the greater leg span?
   • The goliath birdeater
   • The giant huntsman spider (answer)
   • They are equal

Words

• subspecies: local variety
• vertebrae: backbone bones
• fragmentary: in pieces
• exaggerated: made too big